Thought Factory Podcast Never The Same

In this episode, Geoff and Jayson discuss the podcast's future as things have begun to change at Never The Same.

In the previous episode, we discussed the causes of the decline in Youth Ministry.  In this episode, we discuss the five solutions to those causes with our returning guest, Charlie Alcock, a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University.  If you have not checked out the last episode, do so before listening to this one.

Several things within the Church are causing a decline in the Youth Ministry department.  But, if the Church ignores the things going on under the surface, it could take out the entire Church in the future.  In this episode, Geoff and Jayson are joined by a special guest, Charlie Alcock, a professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, to discuss the causes.  They identify seven causes of why they think this is happening, that range from financial to church planting to outdated methodologies.  This is a two-part series, so check out the second episode (#1212) after this one to hear the solutions.

Sadly, the Church has hurt more people than anyone would like to admit.  But, that is because it is made up of people.  Many people have experienced some form of hurt that was associated with someone in the church or associated with the Christian faith.  This may have caused them to walk away from the Christian faith or be skeptical of leadership and the institution of the Church.  Geoff and Jayson have a practical conversation surrounding what they call "church hurt" with a Campus/Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, Miguel DeLaMora.
 

There are many layers to the topic of sexuality.  It ranges from what we view and keeping our thoughts pure to heterosexual attraction and desire to same-sex attraction and identity, from basic concepts of biological sex to the current cultural conversation of the fluidity of gender.  How do we have conversations with our students about sexuality?  When and how do we broach this topic, and how deeply do we discuss this before it gets weird and awkward?  One thing the Church cannot do is stick its head in the sand and hope these things will pass or settle themselves.  The Church must be willing to discuss such things.  In today's episode, Geoff and Jayson invite Clare DeGraaf, who is an author, teacher, and spiritual mentor, to the show to have the deeper conversations that the Church should be having in regard to sexuality.
Resource links from the episode:
Claredegraaf.com
centerforfaith.com
An Introduction to the LGBTQ Conversation

One of the areas of society that was affected the hardest during the pandemic was schools, teachers, and students.  The level of change they had to navigate was high just to keep things functioning.  Now, as many things are "back to normal," what effect has the pandemic had on the entire system and the most vulnerable, the students?  In today's episode, Geoff and Jayson discuss the changes inside schools post-pandemic with a public school teacher, Jeff Henderson.